One big thing the Hetalia fandom has that I recently had to deal with is:A friend and I were joking about some events in the American Revolution: being lighthearted and obviously just kidding, we weren't mocking anything, playing it out as if it was no big deal, etc.. Because we know very well that the Revolution is nothing to play off as nothing, but we were just making a little joke to ourselves.
This girl comes in and goes all "history major" on us, claiming that we're what gives the fandom the bad name, we'll fail in college if we only see everything as Hetalia, the Revolution is more than just a train for yaoi, etc. ...Blowing our little joke totally out of proportion. I also feel we should mention the two of us aren't even in high school yet..while this person was in college. Yes, we see everything in a more lighthearted way because we aren't adults yet. This started a whole domino effect of little fights and the creator of the fan group we'd posted it on claiming to take it down because of 'fighting'. We never fought. I just pointed out that their comments were uncalled for, rude, and false; they tried to attack us.
It..has pretty much disheartened me from cosplaying Hetalia again, unless I'm one of the Nordics or an undercosplayed character. I'd like to do France or England, but knowing that there are people who will basically bite my head off for making a little joke about a historical event...I don't want to touch that.
So, in my case, sometimes the fandom does scare me off.

Another thing is with Kuro. I'm pretty much given up on doing Ciel since, unless you are utterly stunning, good costumes don't really matter; they're a given. What matters is whether or not you have a group, which I don't. It also doesn't help that my friend who cosplays him too does...Not so much that the fandom is annoying so much as how people see those who cosplay it. You're supposed to have a nice, fancy costume..what you need is friends who are equally as good, then, boom, you're great. So until I can get that...ehh.

No, you're kidding, right? You have to be! NO.

/facepalm\ How could someone just y'know...be a meanie and rage out on you guys like that? >w>

__________________• Planned Cosplays •
List being updated and will be re-added soon~!

I also think that some fandoms are hated on because they are incredibly large. Homestuck, Hetalia, MLP, Naruto, Bleach, etc, are so incredibly massive (Naruto and Bleach not so much anymore, but you occasionally see people), that I think people get overwhelmed a little bit, and some get tired of seeing the same character over and over again. And you also hear stories of bad apples, and sometimes drama and elitism within said fandom. Shipping wars can also be scary. >.<
But one mega pet peeve I have is when people judge you based on the fandom your in. Don't judge people based on what they like. Get to know them as a person before you go making assumptions that they are like the few bad apples within the fandom.

Another thing is with Kuro. I'm pretty much given up on doing Ciel since, unless you are utterly stunning, good costumes don't really matter; they're a given. What matters is whether or not you have a group, which I don't. It also doesn't help that my friend who cosplays him too does...Not so much that the fandom is annoying so much as how people see those who cosplay it. You're supposed to have a nice, fancy costume..what you need is friends who are equally as good, then, boom, you're great. So until I can get that...ehh.

I think this kinda goes for any fandom, though. I've been cosplaying MakubeX from GetBackers for a while now and would rarely get recognized. (Granted, he is a minor character, tho'.) I had a friend who cosplayed another character from the same series and we got a couple more people recognize us. Added a third at one con and got lots of love.

Kingdom Hearts was a problem for me years back. I love the games and the characters, and my nephew and I used to do group cosplays from it. But when KH reached the height of its popularity, it was like someone flipped the "stupid switch" on the fandom. The photoshoots became nothing more than hundreds of hyperactive and sexually frustrated teens dry humping each other and screaming yaoi at the top of their lungs. I couldn't take my nephew to those anymore.

Same thing happened with Homestuck. I started reading the comic shortly into the act where the trolls were introduced, so luckily I got to experience the fandom in its calmer days. As soon as [S] Cascade hit the internet, it was like the fandom started frothing at the mouth. It's basically a giant shipping battleground now and thousands of screaming fans yelling "UPDATE!" I feel really sorry for the creator. He's probably wondering how he got himself into this mess. :P But seriously, I'm trying my hand at a Homestuck costume, so I guess I'll see if the fans behave at the shoot.

My biggest issue is not entirely the fandoms, it just when they get together, they're so excited and hyper, they start acting stupid and drunk off being around each other. Not necessarily bad, just scary for someone not part of that love. I feel like an outsider of most fandoms 'cuz I'm ten years older than the majority of them, so it's weird.

I've personally seen a lot of people complain about fandoms when they've had no bad experiences and try to make innocent behavior into something terrible. I once saw a girl who had this big grudge against the Hetalia fandom because a Hungary cosplayer bumped into her and didn't apologize. I've personally bumped into people many times and didn't notice, so this doesn't sound bad at all to me. What was even more jarring was that she said she held no grudge against said Hungary cosplayer, yet she has a huge problem with the entire fandom. :HEADDESK:

Ah when I saw this thread I knew Homestuck and Hetalia were to be brought up. Personally from what I've seen, most homestuck fans that I know are quite mannered? I'm still kinda scared to start cosplaying homestuck though, lately seeing many people have been annoyed by HS fans.

Ah when I saw this thread I knew Homestuck and Hetalia were to be brought up. Personally from what I've seen, most homestuck fans that I know are quite mannered? I'm still kinda scared to start cosplaying homestuck though, lately seeing many people have been annoyed by HS fans.

Aw. ;A; I think you cosplay from HS anyways. Heck, be the person that change's someone's mind about the fandom. XD

I've never had a bad experience with the Homestuck fandom, though I probably will when I end up cosplaying from it in Jan. The one fandom I've been a part of that really bugs me is the VOCALOID fandom. I love the music, but some of the fans just get way too excited and I've seen some bad things happen. u.u

Nobody should be paranoid of whether they should or shouldn't wear a costume because people judge upon that particular show.
I know this thread isn't meant to judge fandoms and for the most part everyone has been mature of this.

I belong into both Hetalia and Homestuck fandom greatly, it's just a part of my life. I can agree that several fans from Hetalia are irresponsible with flags and crude reference to dark times in history. There's a whole article about this shameful thing Hetalians did. However, that's only at most 30% of the fandom. Hetalia cosplay tumblr sites and the mature part of the fandom have actually been writing sections about proper care for flag and such. The stereotypical part...actually the whole show is pretty much disrespectful itself. If it's a story about countries in human form, of course it would be. It's just that the fans see it into a more comedic level and it's meant to be perceived that way.

Homestuck fandom is actually not bad at all. It's that 10% of the fandom that ruins everything. Part of which is because it is generally frowned upon because it's not anime. I've seen Doctor Who and Sherlock cosplayers in anime conventions and no one says much about it but to the Homestucks, people become unfair. *shrugs*

It's also just human nature to focus more on the negative aspects than on the positive aspects. If people just look more carefully, there are certainly more pros than cons in all fandoms.

Homestuck fandom is actually not bad at all. It's that 10% of the fandom that ruins everything. Part of which is because it is generally frowned upon because it's not anime. I've seen Doctor Who and Sherlock cosplayers in anime conventions and no one says much about it but to the Homestucks, people become unfair. *shrugs*

I think you made some excellent points in your post, but I'd like to comment on this bit. XD Honestly, I don't see a lot of hate on it simple because it's anime. I've heard A LOT of flack against Homestuck, and that's never been brought up by the handful of people I've talked to. Granted, that doesn't mean that some people don't think that way, because there are people who think anything that isn't anime shouldn't be allowed. XD Anyways, if it's alright to share, the recurring theme of why Homestuck gets so much hate is actually a compilation of things. Bluntly put, one reason is typically that the fandom is usually in their teens or even as young as 11. I am aware that older people also like Homestuck, but it's not outrageous to state that a large portion of the fandom is rather young. I'm also not saying all young people are obnoxious troublemakers, because I know that isn't entirely true. XD The second contributing factor I see brought up a lot is that most of the characters in the series, quite bluntly, are obnoxious and rude. When you mix that together, you get kids who cosplay Homestuck and are just trying to be funny and fun by being in character, but by imitating such a character they come off as obnoxious and disruptive. At least, those are the two factors I hear most often. .....also, I want to move where you live if you only perceive 10% of the fandom to be like that, because THAT'S a place I want to be. xD

Regardless of reason, it's sad that many people (myself included) do or have avoided the Homestuck series because of bad experiences with fandoms. I actually plan to try reading it again over Christmas break (I tried once before, it was too dry for me to bear), so we'll see how that goes. XD

I think this kinda goes for any fandom, though. I've been cosplaying MakubeX from GetBackers for a while now and would rarely get recognized. (Granted, he is a minor character, tho'.) I had a friend who cosplayed another character from the same series and we got a couple more people recognize us. Added a third at one con and got lots of love.

This is true, too, I've just seen it be a bit extreme with Black Butler. As in, even if you have the best costume of the convention, most people expect you to have a Sebastian at your side to boot, and if you don't, people seem to get a bit disheartened or seem to have the need to find one for you.
While this hasn't totally scared me off (since I've had a VERY kind cosplayer I look up to say she would cosplay with me since her group is fizzling out as the members become disinterested) it does get a bit irksome that that's what it takes to get recognized or noticed for your effort. I don't know, it might just be because that's one thing I've cosplayed the most, but Black Butler seems to have one of the worst problems with that (and a subtle sense of elitism, but this isn't the thread for that)

I've recently decided that I'd like to cosplay as God tier Rose soon from homestuck but I'm a bit wary about it because although I've met a few pleasant homestuck cosplayers I've had a bunch of bad experiences with them in the past and so have my friends. It makes me a bit concerned about how I'd actually be treated in cosplay from the series.